East Coast Chair and Barstool Blog

When looking at restaurant seating there are a lot of different things to look for. A phrase you might see appearing quite often during your search is the term ‘flex back’. But what exactly is a flex back? A flex back chair or bar stool has a back that tilts as the person seated moves or applies pressure on the back.

So, now you might be asking yourself “what is the benefit of a flex back?” They add comfort to the chair by allowing your customers to lean back and get comfy, instead of hitting the unmoving pieces of a standard back.

The piece that allows the back to flex is usually a metal piece that securely connects the seat to the back. It is secure enough to ensure the furniture retains its structural integrity, but also allow for some movement.

Studies have shown when customers feel comfortable they stay longer; when they stay longer, they spend more. Restaurants with a more formal atmosphere, that want to encourage diners to stay and continue ordering, tend to opt for comfortable furniture with features like flex backs. This is often seen in bucket bar stools where the intent is to keep customers at the bar.

Standard and flex back options are both structurally sound and hold similar capacities. Ultimately, a flex back allows for additional comfort for your customers and increased spending potential at your restaurant.

It’s finally fall and football season is here! Many restaurants take advantage of their region’s teams and factor them into a seasonal promotion. And why not? Fans hunker down for three to four hours at a time, consuming your drinks and food during the course of the game, making them a great market to tap into if you don’t already.

There are many ways your restaurant or bar can start integrating “game day specials” into your weekly plan.

Advertise ahead of time. If your regular customers aren’t aware that their favorite hangout is going to start showing their team, it’s not going to be good for business. Promote on your social media and website why your place is the best to watch the big game. This is crucial if you haven’t been a hub for spectating before. To tie in with advertising your location, try and incentive patrons to get there early. Get swag from beer or liquor companies you work with to give away to the first 25 customers in the door or have little raffles during the game.

Open a little earlier. For Sunday games, there’s always the possibility that your team could be playing in the early afternoon. Try opening your doors a couple hours beforehand to encourage people to either arrive early for the game and grab a seat. Or remain a desirable option for other customers that aren’t concerned with the game because they know they can eat and get out of there before it starts.

Bring on the booze. If you sell beer of any kind, you can offer some sort of bucket or pitcher promotion where guests purchase larger quantities of beer at a time for a deal. Again, these fans are likely to be holding up a table for longer periods of time than your average customers, so why not give them a further reason to keep buying drinks? These games are a socially acceptable reason for patrons to drink on what’s typically an “off” time for your bar.

Don’t forget the food! Just like beer, you’ll want to be able have the ingredients for your game day menu prepped and ready. If you’re looking to add a little something to your regular menu, try loaded nachos or fries. These dishes can be put together using leftover pieces from other menu items so you’re preventing food waste and giving your spirited customers another choice. Plus, a lot of this food is on the saltier/spicier side, which will leave customers feeling thirsty…

Offer to-go options. Sports fans can be a superstitious crowd. Some of them have to sit in the same chair by an east-facing window where, by coincidence, their team hasn’t lost since ’82. Turn this crowd into customers by beefing up your take-out options. You can offer take-out specific items, larger platters for viewing parties, or allow ordering the day before to relieve some of the pressure on your kitchen staff. Having these choices for people who would rather watch at home can help you take advantage of a higher portion of your customer base and you can make a sale without giving up any space!

Make sure the game is visible. There’s nothing worse than having a group coming to your establishment to specifically watch the game and not being able to see the screen. Be sure to have enough screens so people can view the game from different vantage points. And, because games can start anywhere from the afternoon and into the evening, make sure you can adjust your blinds when the sun is shining in.

No matter where your bar or restaurant is located, there’s always a team that your patrons can rally behind. It could be a national, college, or high school team, or even all three depending on your location! Game day promotions are a great chance to bring customers in on what might traditionally be slower days and engage them in your restaurant or bar’s atmosphere.

There is no denying that social media is a powerhouse. Every day new accounts are being created at a rate of one new social media user every 15 seconds. There are 3.03 billion active social media users, with the average number of social media accounts being 5.54. The average daily time spent on social is 116 minutes a day.

Instagram is right at the top with over 800 million monthly active users and over 95 million photos uploaded every day. That is a huge market and a fantastic tool that you can use to reach current and potential customers. Instagram can be a powerful promotional tool if used the right way. Yelp data shows that more users are looking up restaurants based upon how “Insta-worthy” they are. There are a few things that you can do to up your game, get those double taps, and use Instagram to fill your seats.

Beautiful Food

As a restaurant, your top priority is the food and the way that it tastes, but nothing says that food can’t be both delicious and photo worthy. Many restaurants are seeing success with creating a novelty food item that brings people in just for the photo opportunity. Bloggers compile lists of the most
Instagrammable food in each city. Readers then flock to these locations to get that next great picture. By offering an item that is a little over the top, you can bring in a lot of business. Hybrid foods such as the Cronut, are also very popular.

Don’t rework your entire menu just to make it Instagram worthy but consider creating a monthly special that is fun to photograph. It will get people in the door and it’s a great creative exercise for your staff.

Presentation of food is always important, but there are a few easy ways to up you game. Investing in some white plates is a great way to show off your food. It helps to accentuate the colors of the food and has a nice minimalistic feel, perfect for photographing.

Many of us can agree that greasy foods are delicious, though packaging with giant grease stains aren’t the most appetizing looking. To avoid grease ruining a Kodak moment, invest is some grease proof paper. It allows fried foods to look their best all the time.

Lighting

As any photographer will tell you, lighting is crucial to the perfect photo. Take a moment to evaluate the lighting in your restaurant to make sure it fits the image you want to create. Are you a dark and moody bar looking to reach college students or a light and airy bakery catering to families? If you are trying to go for a darker vibe, try having a few areas that are well lit enough for a good photo op. Neon signs can be great for this. They also create a signature piece to identify your location.  Photographers love spaces with good natural lighting, it makes taking the photo easier and allows your food to look its best.

Décor

You don’t need to completely redesign your restaurant just for Instagram opportunities. A few small adjustments can be made to encourage guests to take photos. A wall with a quote that embodies your brand, unique wallpapers, and furniture can all enhance the experience offered at your restaurant and promote customers sharing on their account.

You can help set the tone with what part of your décor you would like featured in photos. Do you have a fancy tiled floor? Or perhaps you spent hours obsessing over the perfect counters, feature them as a consistent backdrop on your feed and customers will follow suit.

Murals

Finding a mural and posting a picture with it is a new trend to hit Instagram. If your building has a beautiful blank wall indoor or out, consider pairing up with a local artist to create something unique to your area or restaurant. Brainstorm a signature hashtag and a location tag and you’ll have people traveling from all over to come take pictures. In some cases, people stand in lines down the block to take pictures with certain murals. If foot traffic is an issue this is a sure-fire way to increase passersby.

Hashtags

Share your Instagram account name everywhere. On your menu, on a chalkboard sidewalk sign, or on a receipt. Make sure that your customers know where to find you online. They can’t follow if they don’t know where you are posting. Create a custom hashtag that either references the name of your restaurant or a fun aspect of your brand. This will encourage any Insta-lovers to start snapping and tagging your restaurant.

Hosting a photo contest with a signature hashtag is a great way to improve engagement or get the momentum going on a new account. To encourage participation, offer customers a percentage off if they come in to eat and post.

Your Feed

Most importantly, don’t forget to include a human element to your posts. Gorgeous photos of your food are great and can create craveability ideal for generating new customers. That being said, a huge part of the industry is the people and their stories. Integrate photos of people enjoying themselves on your feed, it’ll inspire other to come and join the food party.

Just be yourself. Share photos of your customers enjoying the food or photos that illustrate the story of your business and what makes you unique. In a world of cultivated content people often crave realness.

Social media is a great marketing tool and Instagram is at the forefront of the social media game. Instagram is an excellent tool for meeting your customers where they are at. By making a few adjustments to your current design or marketing plan you can increase your customer base exponentially.

Have you seen results by using Instagram? Let us know in the comments below!

Bacon sizzling on a grill, crisping in its own grease. The smell of pancakes wafting through the air greets customers at the door. An orange light comes to life as the coffee signals its readiness. Breakfast is served.

These are just a small sampling of the sights, sounds, and smells that await you and your customers when you open for breakfast. But, deciding if you should open your restaurant is all about crunching the hard numbers, not just fantastical sensory feelings. Are you ready to add the “most important meal of the day” to your offerings? Here are some things to consider before you open your doors earlier than ever before. They could also make or break your breakfast business.

Do you have resources to advertise? This doesn’t always boil down to budget. Do you have the time to design promotional materials or to post on social media? It’s not enough to just fling your doors open at 7 am and expect a crowd; people need to be reminded numerous times to have something sink in. The old rule was that people needed to see or hear something about seven times to have it stick with them. Now, in the social media age, it will take more than seven exposures for your target audience to carry that message with them. Put inserts in your menu, promote it on your social media, or even hang posters in your restaurant. These can attract new customers while giving current customers the opportunity to try your breakfast out.

Can you price competitively? Breakfast is often touted as an inexpensive meal because the dishes rely on a lot of commoditized items. These dishes can give you a higher profit margins with their low cost. Which is great for your bottom line, but It’s important to remember guests won’t feel the same way. Somehow, it’s more painful to shell out twelve dollars for avocado toast than twelve dollars for a lunch sandwich. A popular trend right now is to have alcoholic cocktails, like Bloody Mary’s or mimosas, on your breakfast menu. This is a good way to offer something indulgent for the customer and profitable for you. It’s okay to make a profit off your breakfast items but you don’t want to scare off customers with sticker shock, they likely won’t return, damaging your profits for the future.

Will your location support the traffic you need? A good traffic flow is crucial to having a successful breakfast set, especially if you’re not used to opening your doors that early. Having breakfast hours during the weekdays can be successful if you are situated in an office district that has early morning traffic. On the contrary, you can snag church-goers and more casual breakfast eaters in other areas if you focus on weekend hours. It’s important to analyze the traffic ebbs and flows around your location to figure out if you justify the hours open. You might even find that you gain customers by being open at hours you weren’t before.

What time of day will you serve breakfast? The answer to this might be a little harder to come up with than what you would think. Are you willing to offer breakfast dishes all day or would you rather confine it to a time frame? Consider your menu (breakfast and lunch), the space you’ll need to store and prep ingredients, kitchen flow, and staffing.

How will this affect your staff? Knowing your workforce will be an essential factor when figuring out if your restaurant can offer breakfast. You may find that some would prefer to bank on a typically busier lunch or dinner rush to for tips. Others may find that an earlier shift could be better for their family’s schedules. Besides scheduling, you’ll want to make sure that you have enough staff in general and the resources to add more if necessary. Not factoring in your staffing situation could cause tension if not addressed properly and can boil over into a bad customer experience.

What kind of format will you offer breakfast? There are so many ways to provide breakfast options in your restaurant. Will you offer a buffet-style meal, items from a fixed menu, or take-out items? It’s all about the needs of your current and potential clientele in the area. Thinking back to location, if you’re in a bustling business area that has a lot of traffic in the morning, consider light take-out options like breakfast burritos that are easy to just grab and go. Buffets and breakfast cocktails are often best served on the weekends when people really take the time to enjoy their meal.

Breakfast works the best for restaurants when prices are fair, the restaurant is staffed appropriately, and has enough traffic is coming in to justify being open. Opening earlier can be a great way to compete against other businesses in the area and provide more time to make a profit.

Over the past few years, you may have noticed an increase in large dining tables in restaurants. In the past tables of this size were usually relegated to the family dining room, but now these communal tables are popping up in restaurants all over the country.

These tables are used to facilitate communal dining, which is the practice of dining with others, usually accommodating more than one party. While they might be reminiscent of cafeterias and beer halls, they have gotten a facelift in recent years. With both indoor and outdoor options designed to work with current trends, these tables help to complete the look of a restaurant, instead of just being a way to save space.

The concept is centered on food and people coming together to share a meal. The sharing of a table helps to break down the barriers of the restaurant and promotes conversation flow among patrons.

Most restaurants never dreamed their patrons would tolerate dining with strangers, but it makes good business sense. The large tables allow restaurants to accommodate large groups more easily. Even when the table is split into several parties, it adds seats, creating a good use of space.

Many cities with a large “foodie” market have seen great success with communal dining tables. Cities like Boston, Chicago, and New York see small groups come in, sit down, and interact with each other. Then they end up discussing the food and end up buying each other drinks and making new friends.

If you have the right space, and think it will work with your concept, there are many options to choose from to fit your look. It is recommended that the tables be large enough to seat from 8 to 12 guests and be at least 30 inches wide to ensure that everyone has enough space for food and electronic devices.

Do you think a communal dining experience would enhance your restaurant? Let us know in the comments below!

Cross-back chairs aren’t just for your home! We’ve taken the super popular seating silhouette and made it commercial-grade for your restaurant, café, and coffee shop. Introducing… the Carlisle Chair!

This chair has a charming, rustic appearance enhanced with distress marks that gives them even more of a French bakery feeling. The Carlisle Chair is designed with a cross-back and curved shoulder bar to cradle guests comfortably and let them dine in a more relaxed position, which can keep them there a little longer. You can even add a little wood to match your table tops by upgrading these chairs to having a deep colored ash seat.

There are three unique finishes to choose from, so it’s easy to match your dining room décor. The distressed black finish shows its coppery markings prominently and would stand out at a sidewalk café with its darker color popping against the pavement. If you’re looking for more of a manufacturing or industrial look, the distressed gray’s cool tones and deep brown markings may be for your tasting room. Or go the opposite direction with the distressed oak’s wooded finish that has a warmer appearance; a great addition to your coffee shop.

Even though this chair’s design shares similarities to the ones you would see in home furniture stores, you won’t need to worry about it holding up in your restaurant. The Carlisle frame is 16-gauge steel that has been e-coated, making it safe to use indoors or outdoors. For extra support, the chair also features additional U-shaped bracing between each of the legs. The non-marring glides on the Carlisle Chair will keep your floors safe, wherever you decide to use it.

It’s always great to have seating in your restaurant that can move inside or outside, if need be, like the Carlisle Chair. You can also check out our Distressed Viktor Collection for seating that can be used in both locations as well.

Staffing is one of the biggest headaches in the restaurant industry. So much so, that 59% of operators named staffing as their top challenge to success. Much of this can be attributed to the high turnover rate experienced by the restaurant industry. According to Toasttab.com, the average tenure of a restaurant employee is one month and 26 days. That is a lot of turnover that is costing your business about $3500 every time someone walks out the door. You might think “Well that is just how the industry goes”. Believe it or not, there are some strategies you can implement right now to increase the tenure of your employees, boost morale, and increase profits.

Measure Tenure

If you have done your work and hired a good staff that you want to keep, the first thing you need to do is start tracking how long your employees have been with your business. Understanding how long an employee stays with you, in all positions, can help you understand what you need to do to keep people. For example, if your average server stays for 11 months, design any incentives you may have around that. Use this information to extend the tenure of your employees. You can implement additional training, recognition, or pay raises at 6, 12, and 18-month intervals to see if it can help to extend the average.

Ultimately, tenure reveals more than turnover does. But you can’t manage it if you don’t measure it.

Stay Interviews

Hiring interviews, and occasionally exit interviews, are a common practice, but implementing “Stay” interviews can have huge benefits. Take the time to sit down with a veteran staff member to better understand why they are happy with their job, and why they have chosen to remain an employee.  Also, give them the opportunity to talk about what you can do to sweeten the deal and keep them longer. This can help you put the finger on the pulse of what you are doing right, and some areas that could use improvement.

Memorable First Day

An employee’s first day is just like a first impression; you want it to be a good one. Do your best to demonstrate energy and enthusiasm. Be visibly passionate about the company culture, values, and mission. The easiest way to do that is by creating a great company atmosphere. An employee won’t want to stay long if all the other employees are complaining about their jobs and how much they want to leave.

Re-Recruit

Every shift should be a reminder of why your employee wants to stay with the business. Now, we all have bad days, but do your best to bring focus and energy to every shift. As a leader, you set the tone for the rest of the team. This can be accomplished by really focusing on the company atmosphere. Make sure your restaurant is a place that you and your employees are excited to return to shift after shift.

Encourage Mentoring Culture

By assigning a mentor to a new employee, you create a culture that fosters connection and allows a veteran to share insights they have acquired through experience. New employees can also become easily frustrated when not given the proper training to do their job correctly. Implementing a mentor program can help cut down on this frustration. Try to provide a mentor for every position; a dishwasher can benefit from a mentor just as much as a line cook.

Identify Stressors

Stress is inevitable. You won’t be able to fix every situation, but there are some you will be able to. Do your best to identify stressors and eliminate them if possible. Dissatisfied employees often report feeling that no one is in their corner and they receive minimal support. Talk to your staff regularly about their pain points and ask them how you can help. As an added bonus, this can often lead to improved processes.

Provide the Ladder

Employees become frustrated when they feel as if they are stuck in their job with no room for improvement. Chances are that isn’t the case, they just don’t know what they can do to advance their position. Providing a clear outline of what employees can do to progress is beneficial to them and you. It helps with retention when employees have a clear outline of how they can progress.

Thank Your Staff

It seems too simple, that saying “thank you” would turn things around with an employee. Thanking staff is easy to do but often forgotten. It is an uncomplicated way to let your staff know that you appreciate their work. This will also help to open-up lines of communication between you and your team. Listening to them can give you an insight into problems you had no idea were occurring.

The high turnover rate of the restaurant industry is not only a huge stress to operators and costs a significant amount of money. By listening to your staff, measuring tenure, and improving the atmosphere you can increase employee retention and profits.

 

A little background…

2018 has not been kind to plastic straws. The restaurant and hospitality industries are being encouraged to change the way they use single-use plastic products like straws (“500 million straws are used and discarded every day in the U.S. alone”). In response, many corporations are coming up with alternatives and plans to change the way they use straws.

In 2015, a video was uploaded to YouTube named ‘Sea Turtle with Straw up its Nostril – “NO” TO PLASTIC STRAWS’ by Texas A&M Ph. D. candidate, Christine Figgener. This video has over 32 million views on the YouTube platform, not counting Facebook or other social media views. Although it wasn’t the first, this viral video put a face on the issue of single-use plastic items and raised awareness about the consequences that aren’t considered after a piece of plastic lands in a landfill, ocean, or beach.

Many restaurant owners are being faced with purchasing questions that they will need to answer. Single-use plastic has long been used in the restaurant and hospitality industries religiously for the past fifty years. It can seem difficult to find alternatives, but not impossible.

What’s the issue?

Plastic straws (used in homes, restaurants, etc.) are turning up in the ocean and harming wildlife while also adding themselves to heaping piles of garbage that can’t be recycled.

What are other companies doing about straws in their restaurant?

Food industry behemoths like Starbucks and McDonald’s were some of the first to make headlines in the fight to abolish straws. Starbucks is looking to ditch plastic straws for their strawless lid cup in all locations by 2020. McDonald’s is banning single-use plastic products in their U.K. and Ireland locations while also testing plastic straw alternatives in the U.S. Other players like Aramark, Hyatt Hotels, Fox Restaurant Concepts, Eataly, Shoney’s, the Four Seasons Hotel group, and even Ikea are just a few of the food/hospitality companies are in the process of or have promised to change their straw policies.

What do restaurant owners need to consider?

Consider where your restaurant is. Cities like Malibu and Seattle have already passed ordinances banning plastic straws, forcing restaurant owners to offer an alternative.

Don’t forget to look at your menu. Could you save money by reducing straw distribution? Could you serve your mixed drinks without cocktail straws? Are there alternatives you could use instead? Read on…

 

 

What can I do in my restaurant?

If you’re thinking about making the switch from plastic straws to an alternative, here are some options to consider. There are pro’s and con’s to each alternative so it’s important to choose what is right for your business model and menu.

Sippy-type cup (aka no straws)

Getting rid of straws all together in larger companies seems to be the way of larger corporations (like McDonald’s and Starbucks). While this may seem like a grand and great gesture, it’s also a major point of contention for people with disabilities. Many people with disabilities rely on straws to avoid aspirating liquid into their lungs. Another issue with the strawless lid is the additional plastic that goes into their production. Although no straw is needed in this redesigned lid, the new recyclable lids actually have 0.32 or 0.56 more grams of plastic product than the current lid and straw combo. While this lid is recyclable, it’s still likely to end up in a landfill or in the ocean.

Paper straws

The biggest complaint? The straws get soggy and collapse after a couple sips. The key to finding a good paper straw is to have one made with higher quality materials. Straws from companies like Indiana-based Aardvark focus on materials like special paper with a cleaner carbon footprint and a food-grade safe adhesive to maintain a quality straw. Paper straws are pricier but reduce the plastic consumption. This will hopefully be a better alternative in the future as the technology becomes more widespread.

Metal straws

Not a bad solution, in fact it may be a great one for dining-in situations as they are a little expensive. By using metal, this alternative basically becomes part of your silverware set. If you plan on using this type of straw, opt for those with a bend in them, an important characteristic for customers with mobility issues. The drawback? You may want to also invest in another alternative such as compostable or paper straws for your take-out orders.

Pasta straws

They may be firmer than paper straws and less bendy than plastic straws, but pasta straws don’t have all the answers. These can get soggy and don’t work for customers who have a gluten sensitivity or Celiac disease.

Compostable straws

These straws have a very similar consistency to plastic straws but are compostable, meaning if they reach a landfill, they will break down. It’s important to note that these straws can be 70% more expensive traditional plastic ones, causing business owners to cringe at this alternative.

Available upon request

For independent restaurants where the decision-making lies with you or your general manager, having straws be available on request can lessen the straws given out. Most people use straws because they are handed one, making them just another step in the dining process. If customers have the need or desire to have a straw, having them available only upon request will cut down on those who just use a straw for convenience. And in the same move, you are still providing an option for those who have mobility issues. Having straws available upon request could also help you save money since you’ll be cutting back on how many you order by not giving them out as freely.

Is your restaurant making moves to sustainably serve your customers? If you are in a straw-banned area, how has it affected your business? Tell us below.

For more information on anti-single-use plastic campaigns, please visit The Last Plastic Straw for more details on what your restaurant can do.

Some things just go together. Foods like PB&J, wine and cheese, and burgers and fries are matches made in heaven. There’s possibly no better pairing than that of pizza and beer. You might be tempted to say “all beers go well with pizza” and you wouldn’t be totally wrong, but some variations are better suited to different pizzas. They can help to enhance the flavors and take your dining experience to the next level.

Craft beer is still taking the country by storm. New breweries are popping up every day with exciting and refreshing new beers. Now is a great opportunity to thoughtfully set up your pizza menu to promote sales of pizza and beer.

I spoke to Cody Kelly, a brewer at Timber Creek Tap & Table on pairing beer and pizza. “Typically, meats go with darker beers and seafood with light. But malt really brings out the flavor in the bread of a pizza,” Kelly said.

With this in mind, we delved deep into the world of pizza and beer to find some perfect pairings.

Cheese Pizza and ESB (Extra Special Bitter)

A plain cheese pizza is a staple at large gatherings and in the homes of picky eaters. Pairing this with an ESB is a great combination. The bitterness helps to cut away the grease and leaves you with a nice cheesy flavor. The beers nuttiness is a natural fit with the slice’s saltiness. The caramel tones in the beer also pair well with a salty taste.

Pepperoni and Black IPA

A black IPA has spicy hops that bring out the pepper flavor in pepperoni, cut through on the greasiness, and prepare your tastebuds for the next bite. A nice dark roast is also able to draw out the smokiness in the pepperoni for an enhanced taste.

Meat Lovers and Scotch Ale

A scotch ale with a caramel taste is the perfect companion to a meat lovers pizza; it can handle the impact of multiple meats in one bite while attracting the sweeter flavors of the sauce and dough. This helps to balance the spicier notes commonly found in pepperoni and sausage. If you can find one with a wisp of smoke it will complement the taste of the meats for a perfect dining experience.

Hawaiian and Blonde Ale

People tend to have very strong opinions about Hawaiian pizza. If you are pro-pineapple, consider pairing your pizza with a nice American blonde ale. The beer’s simple malt sweetness connects with the sweetness in the ham and pineapple but helps to tone down the fruit’s acidity.

Barbecue and Rauchbier

Rauchbier is known for having a smokey flavor, and where there’s barbeque there is smoke. The beers campfire wisps bring some grill flavor to the super sweet barbecue sauce. With a clean lager after-taste the rauchbier refreshes the palate.

Veggie and IPA

The IPA’s of today tend to be very green/veggie oriented, so what better to pair with a garden-inspired pizza. Find an IPA with hops that lean green such as oniony or grassy. The vegetal hops will give crispness to the onions and peppers on the pizza.

Chicago Deep Dish and Zwickelbier

With deep dish pizza, you need a great crust that can support all that food. By selecting a Zwickelbier, which is a less full-flavored variant of a kellerbier, the flavor will highlight the taste of the crust so that it doesn’t get lost in all the toppings.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza and Fruity IPA

It may sound a little crazy, but the fruity notes will help to wash down the spice and goes well with the acidity of the buffalo sauce and blue cheese. It also has a solid malt backbone to pair with the bread.

White Pizza and Light Ale

When speaking of white pizza, Kelly recommended lighter ales. As the name suggests, this beer is lighter in color and lower in alcohol. It is often consumed with meals and will complement the freshness of a white pizza. The malt will help to emphasize the toasted taste of the crust.

 

Whether you are delving into a classic cheese pizza or experimenting with something a little more complex, there is a beer out there to compliment it. Darker beers are great with meat and veggies toppings, while white pizza’s and seafood pies go well with lighter beers. Selecting the right beer to pair with your pizza is a great way to turn a casual night’s dinner into a dining experience.

Let us know your favorite beer and pizza combo in the comments below!

 

 

If somebody had told you twenty years ago that, in 2018, restaurants would be lining up to serve their food on tables made from century old barnwood, you probably would have laughed and thought they were crazy.  It’s true!  Everything old is new again, and the trend toward modern rustic decors in the restaurant industry means that old reclaimed wood tables are more popular than ever.  It’s kind of ironic when you think that restaurants, in their race to create the ultimate “Insta-worthy” moment for customers armed with tiny computers that weren’t even possible in the 20^th century, are turning to the past for their inspiration.

You may or may not know this, but reclaimed wood isn’t the only way to get a weathered, rustic looking table.  In fact, given the relative scarcity of reclaimed wood, and subsequent higher price, many restaurants are turning to distressed new wood to meet their needs.  In this article, we’re going to talk about both types of wood tables, including what they are, the benefits of each, and when to choose one over the other.

What is Reclaimed Wood?

Reclaimed wood is old wood that has outlived its intended use – a barn, boat, flooring, wine barrel, etc – and is repurposed for some other use.  Technically reclaimed wood doesn’t have to be old, but older wood is more highly sought after.  Wood from “old growth” trees, such as those that were abundant in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries has a number of advantages over modern lumber; it is denser than new wood and less prone to warping.

What Are the Benefits of Reclaimed Wood

Character – Character is a word that is often thrown around when talking about reclaimed wood: most often as a euphemism for old and time worn.  The rich colors and patinas that are the hallmark of reclaimed wood can only be had through constant weathering and aging.  Even more, the old nail holes, knots, and natural imperfections of the wood itself add to the unique character of reclaimed wood.

History – Every restaurant has tables, but not every restaurant can say that their tables came from a salvaged barn erected in a field in Ohio in the late 1800’s.  Reclaimed wood is not only prized for its utility, but also for its story.  Even if you don’t know the exact origin of the wood in your table, the fact that it served a completely different purpose for the first half of its life is a worthy story in and of itself.

Uniqueness – No two reclaimed tables are exactly alike because no two reclaimed boards are exactly alike.  Think about that for a moment…in today’s day and age of mass production, it’s still possible to own something that is uniquely yours.  Each reclaimed piece in your restaurant will share the same benefits and characteristics, but no two will look the same.  Even if your table is one hundred percent red oak from the same barn, each board will have weathered slightly different, and will have its own unique coloration, textures, and natural imperfections.

Resilience – What happens to wood in a barn?  It gets banged up, scratched, and dented.  Now quick, what happens to wood tables in a restaurant?  They get banged up, scratched, and dented.  The beauty of reclaimed wood lies in its imperfections.  Unlike a brand new, perfectly stained wood table, reclaimed wood looks ok if it gets a little beat up.  Now that’s not to say that we would encourage damaging your table on purpose, but it is nice to know that one little scratch or dent won’t completely mar the look, it will just add more character.

Environmentally Friendly – One of the biggest benefits of using reclaimed wood is that it reduces the number of new trees that are cut down to be used as building materials.  It also reduces the harmful emissions that are created by logging equipment and the trucks used to transport the lumber to factories for processing.  In addition, it keeps a perfectly reusable resource out of the landfill and gives the old wood a new life.

What is Distressed Wood?

Distressed wood is new wood that has been artificially distressed and/or weathered to make it appear old.  Distressing techniques often include putting nail holes in the boards, creating circular saw marks to replicate vintage logging techniques, or adding a patina to the wood so that it looks like it has aged over decades of use.

What Are the Benefits of Distressed Wood

Consistency – If you need a consistent look throughout your restaurant, then distressed wood is the answer.  While it isn’t mass produced, distressed wood boards tend to look similar in that the same distressing process is applied to all of them.  They may have marks in different spots, but the overall color and pattern of wear is usually the same.

Price – Reclaimed wood is more expensive than distressed wood because it is labor intensive, and due to supply and demand pressures.  As the demand for reclaimed wood has blown up in the past 5 years, the price has risen; there are only so many old barns available to reclaim.   If you are looking for a rustic look without paying for reclaimed wood, then look at distressed wood.

Colors – Distressed wood can be stained to whatever color you want while keeping the characteristics of the wood, whereas reclaimed wood looks best in its natural color.

Should I Choose Reclaimed or Distressed Wood for My Restaurant Tables?

The answer to this is, as always, it depends.  If you are looking for an authentic rustic look with a story behind it, then reclaimed wood is definitely the way to go.  If, on the other hand, you’re budget conscious and just want consistently great tables that look vintage, then you can’t go wrong with a distressed wood table.  Either way, your customers will start taking out their phones to snap away as soon as they enter the place.

If you need help figuring out what type of table would work best for your restaurant, give our customer care team a call at (800) 986-5352 and we’ll be happy to assist you.